1. Chapter 4 Socialization The Importance of Socialization
Socialization and Personality
Socialization: the cultural process of learning to participate in group life
No idea how to be social at birth
Nearly all aspects of social life are not natural, but learned through the process of socialization
Babies have no idea about thinking, feeling, and behaving without socialization

2. Proper Manners For Dating
A man should not sit down at the table in a restaurant until the
woman is seated.
A man should always pull out a woman’s chair for her and see that she
is served first.
A man should never let a woman carry anything heavy; she should
only carry a small package at the most.
A man should help a woman put on and take off her coat.
A man should always get out of the car and come to the door when
picking a woman for a date.
A man should always open a door for a woman and let her pass in
front of him.

3. Socialization: process of learning to participate in a group
Socialization begins at birth and continues throughout life
Freshmen in high school, college adjust to new situation
Graduates in first job
All new situations throughout life
Socialization: process of learning to participate in a group

4. How do we know socialization is important?
Harry Harlow’s famous experiment
Closeness and comfort more
important than food
How do we know socialization is important?
Case studies we talked about
Genie
Studies about effects of isolation on monkeys
Harry Harlow – psychologist in 1950’s-60’s
Two artificial mothers (wire with nipple, wrapped in soft terry cloth
Choice between food and comfort, closeness
Closeness and comfort were more important than food to these monkeys
When frightened by a rubber snake, they ran to the cloth mothers for comfort and protection 3

5. Does the same apply to human beings?
Importance of affection, intimacy,
and warmth
Can we generalize from monkeys to human beings?
Famous 1965 study – Lawrence Casler
Developmental growth rate of institutionalized children (who receive less physical contact than normal) improved with only 20 minutes of extra touching a day 4

6. Case Studies on Isolated Children
Anna, Isabelle, Genie
Case Studies on Isolated Children
Anna and Isabelle: Case Studies on Isolated Children
Anna and Isabelle:
Read pp
Implications? Unmistakable
The personal and social behavior associated with being a human being is acquired through intensive and prolonged social contact with others 5

7. The left hand scan shows the brain of a normal three year old with healthy neural
development. The right hand scan shows dark patches where whole areas of the brain
have shrunk from lack of stimulation.

8. Socialization and the Self
All three theoretical perspectives agree that socialization
is needed if cultural and social values are to be learned
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Perspective
Symbolic Interactionism
Socialization and the Self
All three theoretical perspectives agree that socialization is needed if cultural and social values are to be learned 6

9. approach that emphasizes the contributions of each part of society
Functionalism:
approach that emphasizes the contributions
of each part of society
Conflict Perspective:
approach emphasizing the role of conflict,
competition, and constraint within a
society
Symbolic Interactionism:
approach that focuses on the interactions
among people based on mutually
understood symbols 7

10. functionalist perspective
We work together to create a stable society
How does the functionalist perspective explain socialization?
Stresses ways in which groups work together to create a stable society
Schools and families – good example
Both socialize children by teaching the same basic norms, beliefs, and values
family
school 8

11. conflict perspective Don’t upset the existing social class structure!
social classes exist maintaining the status-quo
How does the conflict perspective explain socialization?
Views socialization as a way of perpetuating the status quo
When people are socialized to accept their family’s social class, they help preserve the current class system
Because they don’t challenge their position in life, they don’t upset the existing class structure
Consequence? The political and economic advantages of the higher social classes are maintained.
Don’t upset the existing social class structure! 9

12. Symbolic Interactionism and Socialization
Developed in the early part of the twentieth century by
Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead
The self-concept
The looking-glass self
Significant others
Role-taking (the imitation stage, the play stage, and the game stage)
The generalized other
Symbolic Interactionism and Socialization
Developed in the early part of the twentieth century by Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead
For them human nature is a product of society
They use a number of key concepts to explain socialization. They include:
The self-concept
The looking-glass self
Significant others
Role-taking (the imitation stage, the play stage, and the game stage)
The generalized other 10

13. Where does the self-concept come from?
Self-concept: the image you have of yourself as having an identity
separate from other people 11

14. When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror.
Are you dressing for yourself or for how others see you?
If not for rules and expectations, would you dress differently than
you do? How and why?

15. Where does the self-concept come from?
Cooley: How does looking-glass self work?
According to Cooley, we use other people as mirrors to reflect back what we imagine they think of us
Cooley breaks it down into 3 stages:
First we imagine how we appear to others
Next we imagine the reaction of others to our (imagined) appearance
Finally, we evaluate ourselves according to how we imagine others have judged us
This is not a conscious process, it can happen in very rapid succession
The result of the process is a positive or negative self-evaluation
Example:
You are going to meet someone you really wanted to meet
When you meet them you have an image of your performance (stage 1)
After chit-chat you sense their disappointment (stage 2)
Because you wanted this person to be impressed, you feel bad about yourself (stage 3)
Can the looking-glass be distorted? YES!
Since it comes from our own imaginations, it may be distorted
The mirror might not accurately reflect others opinions of us at all
Unfortunately, the looking-glass process works even if we are mistaken about others’ perceptions of us
If we believe someone doesn’t like us, the consequences to us are just as real as if it were true
Example: children learns how to behave within their families by watching how their parents
judge their behavior and then judge themselves accordingly
Looking-glass self: an image of yourself based on what you think others think of you 12

16. Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self
3 Step Process:
We imagine how we appear to others
(I look good in these new clothes)
We imagine the reaction of others to our (imagined) appearance
(Just saw that person looking at me. Must be because I look
good in these clothes)
We evaluate ourselves according to how we imagine others
have judged us
(I feel great about the way I look today!) 13

17. Do we use some people as “more important” mirrors?
Mead pointed out that some people are more important than others to us
Mead: pointed out that some people are more important than others to us
Significant others: those people whose reactions are most important to your self-concept
The people whose judgments are most important to our self concepts
For a child: mother, father, teachers, grandparents, etc.
Teenagers place heavy reliance on peers
Adults: spouses, parents, friends, clergy members, employers, co-workers
Significant others: those people whose reactions are most important to your self-concept 14

18. What is role taking?
What is role taking?
Role taking: assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that viewpoint to shape the self-concept
We can play out scenes in our minds and anticipate what others will say or do
Asking teacher for an “A” on a paper
If you cant mentally put yourself in teacher’s place you would have no idea of the objections your teacher might have
You can prepare for those objections and be ready to justify your “A”
Role taking: assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that
viewpoint to shape the self-concept 15

19. How do we learn the ability for role taking?
According to George Mead, it’s a 3 step process
Imitation stage:
around the age 1 or 2
According to George Mead, it’s a 3 step process
Imitation stage: around 1 or 2, child imitates (without understanding) physical and verbal behaviors of significant others.
1st step in developing capacity for role taking
Imitating behaviors without understanding why 16

20. Act in ways they imagine other people would
2. Play stage:
Around 3 or 4 years
Play stage: around 3 or 4, kids can be seen playing the roles of mother, father, policeman, teacher, etc.
Kids act in the ways they imagine other people would
Act in ways they imagine other people would 17

21. Anticipate actions of others based on social rules
3. Game stage
Early school years
Game stage: anticipate the actions of others based on social rules.
Through games, kids learn to gear their behavior to the norms of the group
Anticipate actions of others based on social rules 18

22. When do we start to internalize how to behave in social situations?
Over time its not just about pleasing significant others
It begins to seem wrong in principle to be dishonest, to break norms, etc.
Generalized other: integrated conception of the norms, values, and beliefs of one’s community or society
Generalized other: integrated conception of the norms, values, and beliefs of
one’s community or society 19

23. “Man can be defined as the animal that can say I,
that can be aware of himself as a separate entity.”
Erich Fromm 20

24. Mead – What is the self?
Mead – What is the self?
According to George Mead the “self” is made up of two parts: the “me” and the “I” - the “I” is myself as I am…the “me” is myself as others see me
The me: is the part of the self formed through socialization
Genie didn’t have a concept of “me” because she had never been socialized to understand how others might see her or how she might understand others
Genie only had the concept of “I”…she was like a little baby, egocentric, with no concept beyond her own needs
According to George Mead the “self” is made up of two parts: the “me” and the “I”
the “I” is myself as I am…the “me” is myself as others see me 21

25. Agents of Socialization:
Sharing 22

26. The Family and Socialization
First exposure to the world and the primary agent of socialization
Within the family the child learns to:
Think and speak
Internalize norms, beliefs, and values
Form some basic attitudes
Develop a capacity for intimate and personal relationships
Acquire self-image
First exposure to the world and the primary agent of socialization 23

27. Socialization in Schools
First time children are under the supervision of adults who are not relatives
For the first time many of the child’s relationship are impersonal
Rewards and punishment are based on performance rather than on affection
Creates a feeling of loyalty and allegiance to something beyond the family
Hidden curriculum: the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in school
Hidden curriculum: the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that
children are taught in school

28. Peer Group Socialization
In family and school kids are subordinate to adults, in peer group they engage in give and take relationships
Peer group: set of individuals of roughly the same age and interests
Experience conflict, competition, and cooperation in peer groups
Gives the experience of self direction
Begin to make their own decisions
In family and school kids are subordinate to adults, in peer group they
engage in give and take relationships

29. Mass Media and Socialization
Mass Media and Socialization
Mass Media: communication designed to reach the general population
TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, books, internet, music
Mass media display role models for children to imitate
Imitating these role models help to integrate the young into society
Violence in mass media: by age 16, average teen has witnessed 20,000 homicides on TV
Hundreds of studies involving over 10,000 children have concluded that watching aggressive behavior on TV significantly increases aggression in society
Sitcoms: how are fathers, teachers portrayed?

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Cool Dad

31. Mass Media and Socialization
Our perceptions of he ideal body types seem to be largely a product of media socialization.
How do television, magazines, CDs, and video games reinforce these images?
Has the media socialized Americans to admire certain figure and body types?

32. Desocialization
Total institutions: people separated from the rest of society and
controlled by officials in charge
Desocialization: the process of giving up old norms, values, and behaviors
Often means the destruction of old self-concepts of personal identity
Total institutions: people separated from the rest of society and controlled by officials in charge
Prisons
Mental hospitals
Military
Desocialization: the process of giving up old norms, values, and behaviors

33. Resocialization
Resocialization: the process of adopting new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors

34. Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory Socialization: the voluntary process of preparing to accept
new norms, values, attitudes and behaviors